Referencing is a crucial aspect of any kind of content, academic or otherwise. The necessity of referencing and citations are numerous:
The Harvard Referencing System is a commonly used referencing style or bibliographic citation widely used for academic writing purposes. The generic system used in the referencing style involves mentioning the author and the date as primary referencing notation.
This article offers detailed overviews of the Harvard Referencing System, along with explanations and examples of outlines, in-text citations, referencing guidelines and more.
Let’s begin.
So, what is the Harvard Style Referencing?
As mentioned above, the Harvard Referencing System is a source citation and referencing style devised at the renowned Harvard University and is currently one of the most popular referencing styles used across global academia.
In the Harvard Referencing System, the author’s surname and year of publication are cited in the text of a particular work. In addition, the information source's full details are added in the reference list that is included as an appendix at the end. The Harvard Style Referencing does not use endnotes or footnotes.
Thus, the style uses references primarily in two places in any writing: in-text citations and the reference list at the end. Writers must ensure that each name that appears as an in-text citation must appear in the reference list, and every entry in the reference list must be referred to in the main text. Thus, every detail in the reference is vital, even the punctuation.
The following section dives deep into the specifics of the Harvard Style Referencing Guidelines.
Whether you are using automated Harvard Referencing Generators or using the Harvard Style Guide to cite your text manually, in-text references in Harvard Style must comprise the author's family name and the year of the publication of the work. If quotes & paraphrases are used, page numbers must also be mentioned.
Here's a generic example, as it would appear in the reference list.
Habel, C 200, ‘Academic self-efficacy in ALL:capacity-building through self-belief’, Journal of Academic Language and Learning, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 94-104.
An in-text reference would look like this:
“It has been claimed that… (Author YEAR, p. #)
or "Author (YEAR, p. #) claims that…."
Page numbers are a must for in-text citations, especially if one quote or paraphrases. If only a single page is referred to, use the abbreviation p. If you are referring to more than on-page, use the abbreviation pp.
The reference list must include details for every citation in work. In addition, all entries must be written in alphabetical order by the author's name, and all the different works referred to must be mentioned in one sequence.
Sometimes writers may be asked to produce a bibliography, a list of all the information sources referred to in the content but not necessarily cited in the text. For example, any background reading is done to familiarize oneself with a topic.
Note: A reference list is always required when other works are cited in a text. Also, writers must be sure whether they are asked to add a reference list or bibliography.
Read on to learn more about the nitty-gritty of how to use Harvard referencing.
The general format of Harvard in-text citations has been discussed. Here are some more details.
Example :
Mullane (2006) conducted research…
Example :
….(Mullane 2006)
Here’s the Harvard Style In-text Citation example.
Mullane (2006, p. 118) ……..’ a statistical anomaly’.
Example:
It was stated that:
.
.
….….(Mullane 2006, p.)
Example:
…..(Sanders 2008; Smith 2009)
The in-text citations are the same as before.
DOI are not necessary for Harvard reference entries.
The reference entry is the same as a single writer; an ampersand must separate only the author names.
Example:
(Darwin & Palmer2009) Darwin, A & Palmer, E 2009, ….
The same technique is followed for articles with three authors.
However, the reference list must list all the names by surname followed by the initials of the first name, with an ampersand separating the names of the last two authors.
Example:
Jones(cited in Smith 2009)…… or …..(Jones, cited in Smith 2009)
The details of the secondary source are to be cited in the reference list.
Example:
Guide to agricultural meteorological practices (1981) provides…. or ….(Guide to agricultural meteorological practices 1981)
In-text citations require only the author’s family name and the publication year.
In case of any reference to an edited book, the editor's name should be mentioned, followed by (ed.)
In-text citations need to mention only the author’s family name and the year of publication.
Before rounding up this content, let’s take a look at the Harvard Outline Format for content writing.
The Harvard Outline Format is an outline structure for essays and other types of content writing. It is a structured outline form that helps writers lay out their ideas logically as they appear in the content. The outline should comprise only phrases and words related to the ideas to be presented, but no complete sentences.
The above is a generic outline format and is not at all set in stone. The number and structure of paragraphs are liable to change as per writing requirements.
And that rounds up this brief guide to Harvard Referencing format. Use this guide for quick notes while citing any content. And, in case of any further troubles, seek instant essay and assignment writing assistance from Essaygator.com, a leading global academic writing service.
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